Trudeau Liberals Have Been In Damage Control Over The Issue But Have They Already Lost Sikh Votes In Next Year’s Election?

The Public Safety Canada Report was a big boo-boo by the Justin Trudeau government which seemed to have hired an anti-Sikh analyst to write the current report and then were negligent in not checking the fine print before the report was made public. The government have been in damage control mode with Minister Ralph Goodale telling the media that they are looking to change the wording given the strong backlash against the report. But is the damage already done with Sikh votes heading to Jagmeet Singh’s NDP or some may even be considering backing Andrew Scheer’s vision in the next election scheduled in the fall of 2019.

By R. Paul Dhillon

TORONTO – The BC Sikh Gurdwaras Council, Ontario Sikhs and Gurdwaras Council and the Ontario Gurdwaras Committee, representing the interests of Sikhs in Canada, gathered last week to discuss the 2018 Public Report on The Terrorism Threats to Canada.

The Sikh community has taken issue with the inclusion of “Sikh (Khalistani) Extremism” for the first time in the history of the Report when there is no evidence whatsoever and Sikh militancy has been dead in Canada for over 20 years.

Last week’s gathering called on Minister Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness to, in the absence of any evidence, remove the section in its entirety.  The collective Sikh organizations had requested an urgent meeting with Minister Goodale to discuss this matter.

The report was a big boo-boo by the Justin Trudeau government which seemed to have hired an anti-Sikh analyst to write the current public safety report and then were negligent in not checking the fine print before the report was made public.

The government have been in damage control mode with Minister Goodale telling the media that they are looking to change the wording given the strong backlash against the report. But is the damage already done with Sikh votes heading to Jagmeet Singh’s NDP or some may even be considering backing Andrew Scheer’s vision in the next election scheduled in the fall of 2019.

Senior BC MPs have told desibuzzCanada that the government should have a read the report, in fact it should have been given to all Government MPs, before being made public. “This is a big mistake by our government,” one Liberal MP said.

Goodale’s office has responded to the Sikh community’s request and confirmed that a meeting will take place in the week of January 14th.

Furthermore, as Minister Goodale and several members of the Government have acknowledged and expressed agreement with the community, that the inclusion of the section of “Sikh (Khalistani) Extremism” is problematic, the collective Gurdwara councils request the Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness to put the Report on hold and take it down from their website until the review of the *Report* is completed.

Moving forward, the collective Gurdwara councils call on the Sikh community and all Gurdwaras to continue to raise this issue with their elected representatives and ensure that the community’s concerns are heard, as the continued inclusion of “Sikh (Khalistani) Extremism” will have a significant negative impact on the reputation and lives of Sikhs in Canada.